Sydney man waits months for urgent surgery

A SYDNEY man had to wait 105 days for urgent heart surgery because of the state government's $3 billion cut to health funding, NSW Labor says.

Leumeah man Sid Jackson, who had an aortic valve replacement at St George Hospital, was also asked to pay a $432 ambulance bill after he was prematurely discharged from hospital.

The health minister has waived the ambulance charge.

Opposition Leader John Robertson said Mr Jackson was told he needed the operation within 30 days.

"The health minister should stop congratulating herself and admit the reality is NSW hospitals are being left drastically underfunded by her government."

Opposition health spokesman Dr Andrew McDonald said Mr Jackson should not have been sent home when he was still suffering from post-surgery fluid overload.

"Two days later, on the advice of both his GP and cardiologist, Mr Jackson was taken back to St George Hospital by ambulance as he was not well enough to get there himself.

"After another four-day stay in hospital, Mr Jackson was discharged, weighing six kilos less than on admission. But he was then charged $432 for the ambulance service, which should not have been needed in the first place."

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Mugabe in Rome for Pope's inauguration

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is in Rome for Pope Francis's inauguration. Source: AAP

ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe flew into Rome on Monday to attend Pope Francis's inauguration, sidestepping a travel ban that applies to the EU but not to the sovereign Vatican City state.

Mugabe arrived amid controversy in Zimbabwe where police on Sunday arrested four of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's aides and a prominent human rights lawyer following a referendum that would curtail Mugabe's powers.

A practising Catholic, the 89-year-old Mugabe visited the Vatican previously in 2011 for the beatification of late pope John Paul II.

In 2005, he attended John Paul II's funeral on a visit that drew controversy after Britain's Prince Charles shook hands with him.

Pope Francis's inauguration mass in St Peter's Square will take place on Tuesday, with hundreds of thousands of faithful and world leaders expected.

Mugabe has been widely condemned for human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.

Preliminary results indicate the referendum has been approved, paving the way for fresh elections to decide whether Mugabe will stay on.

The new constitution would introduce presidential term limits and beef up parliament's powers but could allow Mugabe to stay on for another decade if he wins elections.

Mugabe has ruled uninterrupted since independence from Britain in 1980, despite a series of disputed and violent polls and a severe economic crash propelled by hyper-inflation.

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Charges over $4m car pile up in Japan

A multi-car pile up involving eight luxury cars could see 10 drivers charged. Source: AAP

POLICE in Japan want to charge 10 drivers over a $US4 million, multi-car pile up involving eight Ferraris, one Lamborghini and a Mercedes-Benz.

The chain-reaction smash in December 2011 occurred when a convoy of expensive sports cars were on a freeway in Shimonoseki in western Japan, said Yamaguchi prefectural police official Shinji Tanaka.

The driver of the lead Ferrari lost control of his luxury ride and those behind the wheels of nine supercars and three other vehicles failed to apply their brakes in time.

One car driving on the opposite carriageway was also affected.

The Sports Nippon newspaper said around $US4 million ($A3.88 million) worth of damage was done.

Police sent the case against a 61-year-old man and nine others to prosecutors last Thursday on suspicion of violating traffic laws.

The final decision on whether to charge the drivers rests with prosecutors.

Police say 10 drivers, aged between 38 and 61, were exceeding the speed limit or not paying enough attention to the road, Tanaka said.

At the time of the accident, television showed footage of the badly crumpled cars - most of them red - some with airbags deployed after a smash that left six people hurt but killed no one.

"It's rare to see a chain-reaction accident like this involving expensive cars," said Tanaka.

"Some of the drivers told us they didn't really know the specifications of their cars or just how powerful their acceleration was."

The drivers were on their way to a supercar event in Hiroshima.

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ACCC best to assess media mergers: Nine

Nine's boss pledged to protect regional TV jobs in a potential merger with Southern Cross. Source: AAP

THE competition watchdog has better ways of assessing the pros and cons of any merger between two companies than the measures proposed under the federal government's public interest test, Nine Network's managing director Jeffrey Browne says.

Mr Browne was speaking to a Senate committee inquiry into Labor's package of six media reform bills, which the federal government wants parliament to pass this week.

He said there were safeguards under the Broadcasting Services Act as well as the powers of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to ensure there was no need for a public interest test in relation to mergers of media companies.

"The ACCC controls mergers, to the extent they prohibit mergers, if there is a substantial lessening of competition, where they have exercised that power very effectively," he told the committee in Canberra on Monday.

He said the advantage of using the ACCC's current provisions was that there were some clearly defined indicators such as jobs, innovation and exports.

"The existence of those economic principles make that test or their considerations more objective than what is being proposed," Mr Browne said.

He also said there was a sufficient spread of voices in the media landscape where his network competed strongly with the Seven and Ten Networks.

There were more programs on the internet every day, he said.

The proposed increase to a quota for Australian programs would be easily accommodated by the Nine Network, Mr Browne said.

His network was broadcasting around 70 per cent Australian shows, compared with the 55 per cent share for commercial television overall, as part of an agreement to cut the licences rebate for the networks.

Audiences had demanded more local shows with 20 of the top 20 programs produced in Australia in 2012, and 47 out of the top 50, compared with most being from the US five years ago.

"We comfortably exceed that quota because those shows rate and that is what our audiences want and need," he said.

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Melb Heart believe they know fan attacker

A-LEAGUE club Melbourne Heart are confident they have identified the supporter was who launched a cowardly attack on a celebrating a Western Sydney Wanderers fan at AAMI Stadium.

Heart chief executive Scott Munn told AAP the club believes it knows the identity of the man whose was face was clearly caught on Fox Sports TV coverage as he landed a king hit on the bare-chested Wanderers fan on Saturday night.

"We are reasonably comfortable we know who the person is and all action will be taken to provide his identity to the police," Mr Munn said.

Mr Munn stressed the man was not a member of the club.

"His actions were not appropriate and we don't accept it - it was absolutely abhorrent," Mr Munn said.

Victoria Police are aware of the vicious assault, and are working with Melbourne Heart, but say so far no one involved has reported it to police.

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Asian markets mixed

ASIAN markets have closed mixed following another strong lead from Wall Street, where traders took heart from more upbeat US jobs numbers.

The yen was flat after Japanese MPs gave final approval to the government's nominees to take the helm at the Bank of Japan (BoJ), with expectations high that it will usher in more aggressive monetary easing.

Tokyo rose 1.45 per cent, or 179.76 points, to 12,560.95 - its highest level since September 2008. Sydney bounced back from three days of losses to register its biggest rise since July, adding 1.75 per cent, or 88 points, to close at 5,120.2.

Hong Kong was 0.38 per cent lower, losing 86.07 points to end at 22,533.11 while Shanghai closed up 0.36 per cent, or 8.12 points, at 2,278.40.

Seoul fell 0.78 per cent, or 15.63 points, to 1,986.50.

On Wall Street, traders welcomed data showing new claims for unemployment benefits fell last week for the third week in a row, signalling continuing improvement in the jobs market.

The S&P 500, which includes all major segments of the US economy, climbed 0.56 per cent to end just short of its all-time high close set in October 2007.

And the Dow was up 0.58 per cent, breaking its all-time record for the eighth straight day. It was the Dow's 10th consecutive rise.

However, while the unemployment numbers were welcomed, the US dollar fell to Y96.08 in New York from Y96.40 in Asia earlier on Thursday.

In Tokyo on Friday the dollar fetched Y96.07.

The upper house of Japan's parliament gave the green light to Haruhiko Kuroda as BoJ governor, as well as to Kikuo Iwata and Hiroshi Nakaso as his deputies.

The men are expected to usher in a new era for the BoJ as Tokyo demands more action to boost the world's third-biggest economy, with Kuroda saying he will do all he can to achieve the bank's new two per cent inflation target.

Focus will now be on the bank's policy meeting next month to see what tools the new leadership will use to jumpstart the Japanese economy and drag it out of deflation.

The euro bought $US1.3026 and Y125.11 against $US1.3000 and Y124.91.

In Seoul, electronics giant Samsung fell 2.63 per cent after it unveiled its new Galaxy S4 smartphone in New York late on Thursday with a bigger screen and a new eye-tracking device.

However, Bae Seung-Young of Hyundai Securities told AFP: "It's not because the Galaxy S4 failed to meet expectations. It's just that investors feel technical smartphone upgrades are flattening out."

Oil prices rose, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April up 13 cents to $US93.16 a barrel in the afternoon, while Brent North Sea crude for May gained 24 cents to $US109.20.

Gold was at $US1,592.44 an ounce at 0815 GMT (1915 AEDT) compared with $US1,584.80 late on Thursday.

In other markets:

- Taipei fell 0.31 per cent, or 24.27 points, to 7,927.49.

Leading smartphone maker HTC shed 2.7 per cent to Tw$234.5 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.96 per cent lower at Tw$103.0.

- Manila fell 0.60 per cent, or 40.11 points, to 6,654.60.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone dropped 0.55 per cent to 2,844 pesos while BDO Unibank fell 3.30 per cent to 88 pesos.

- Wellington rose 0.14 per cent, or 5.96 points, to 4,387.06.

Contact Energy was up 2.19 per cent, Ryman was up 1.3 per cent at NZ$4.78 while Trade Me added 0.9 per cent to NZ$4.74 and Kathmandu climbed 0.4 per cent to NZ$2.45.

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Cyprus postpones debate on EU bailout

THE Cyprus government has postponed a planned emergency session of parliament on Sunday to debate a controversial EU bailout as the scale of opposition to its terms became clear.

President Nicos Anastasiades also put off until Monday a planned briefing of MPs and a promised address to the nation to defend what he acknowledged were "painful" sacrifices in return for a desperately needed 10-billion-euro ($A12.58 billion) bailout for the island's banks.

MPs will now convene at 4pm on Monday (0100 AEDT Tuesday) to debate ratification of the deal after a briefing by the conservative president, the state broadcaster said.

Ministers will now meet on Monday to thrash out the draft legislation to put before parliament, including an unprecedented levy of up to 9.9 per cent on all savings in the island's banks that has prompted a storm of public protest.

State television said the parliamentary debate was postponed to "ensure MPs were fully aware of the situation and were better informed."

The privately run Sigma TV said that Anastasiades was struggling to secure even a simple majority for the necessary legislation in parliament, in which his right wing DISY party holds just 20 of the 56 seats.

The communist AKEL party, which has 19 seats, had refused to sign an agreement on the terms on offer while it was in power before Anastasiades was elected president last month.

Even Anastasiades's partners in the ruling coalition have voiced strong misgivings. DIKO leader Marios Garoyian said he had spoken to the president about seeking "alternative choices" amid opposition from some of his centrist party's nine MPs.

The government needs to ratify the controversial savings levy before banks reopen, which is currently scheduled for Tuesday after a holiday weekend on the island.

But state television said there was a possibility that Tuesday too may now be declared a bank holiday as the legislative process falters.

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Count under way after Zimbabwe referendum

ZIMBABWE is tallying the ballots from a constitutional referendum that looked set to curb President Robert Mugabe's powers and tee up crucial elections in the violence-plagued nation.

The first incomplete trickle of results pointed to landslide backing for the text, which would introduce presidential term limits, beef up parliament's powers and set polls to decide whether the 89-year-old Mugabe stays in power.

Mugabe has ruled uninterrupted since the country's independence in 1980, despite a series of disputed and violent polls and a severe economic crash propelled by hyper-inflation.

The draft constitution is part of an internationally backed plan to get the country on track. Zimbabweans' verdict on the draft is expected to be known within five days of the voting.

According to the Movement of Democratic Change, the party of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, of the nearly 90,000 votes initially counted in the second city of Bulawayo only 6250 were against the draft.

Mugabe has backed the proposed constitution, which enshrines his drive to put land in the hands of black Zimbabweans. Also, the clauses are not retroactive so he could if re-elected remain president for another 10 years.

His political rival Tsvangirai has also lent his support to the text, although turnout is expected to be low.

But that has not prevented the threat of violence from looming over the vote, as party militants keep one eye on the general election.

A vote is expected to take place in July, but doubts remain about whether it can take place as planned.

Shortly before polls opened on Saturday, gunmen later identified as plain clothes police detectives, seized a member of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) from his home northeast of Harare.

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told AFP Samson Magumura had been arrested on charges of attempted murder in connection with a recent firebomb attack that injured a Mugabe ally.

While casting his vote on Saturday, Mugabe, whom many blame for past unrest, urged Zimbabweans to ensure the referendum proceeded peacefully.

"You can't go about beating people on the streets, that's not allowed, we want peace in the country, peace, peace," he said.

Mugabe, the target of 11 years of Western sanctions over political violence and rights abuses, also used the opportunity to vow the United States and European countries would not be allowed to monitor the upcoming general election.

"The Europeans and the Americans have imposed sanctions on us and we keep them out in the same way they keep us out," he said.

Tsvangirai on Saturday expressed hope that a positive outcome would help catapult the country out of a crisis marked by bloodshed and economic meltdown.

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Japan's cherry blossom season starts early

JAPAN'S weather agency has announced a record early start of cherry blossom season.

The national weather service used cherry trees at Tokyo's central Yasukuni Shrine to judge the start of the season, which features an explosion of colours that lasts about a week.

The March 16 date equals a record set in 2002, according to the service, which has monitored cherry blossom season since 1953.

Marking the coming of spring, the blooming of cherry trees is a beloved natural spectacle in Japan, involving nationwide parties and celebrations to take in the flowers' short-lived beauty.

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China names new foreign minister

China's parliament has nominated Wang Yi, a former ambassador to Japan, as foreign minister. Source: AAP

CHINA'S parliament has named a former ambassador to Japan, Wang Yi, as the new foreign minister.

Wang, currently in charge of Taiwan affairs, replaces Yang Jiechi, who has served since 2007.

Yang was nominated to the State Council, according to an announcement by the National People's Congress on Saturday.

The changes are part of a broad revamp of personnel as China concludes a once-a-decade leadership transition that saw Communist Party chief Xi Jinping elected president on Thursday.

The change at the top of the foreign ministry comes at a time of heightened tensions with Japan over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

Wang, 59, served as ambassador to Japan from 2004 to 2007 and was also a diplomat in China's embassy in Tokyo from 1989 to 1994. He reportedly speaks Japanese.

He has been in charge of Taiwan affairs on the State Council since 2008.

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